Project

Overview

Project Objectives

The objective of the proposal at hand is to assess the effect of future challenges, demand drivers and upcoming innovations on the competitiveness of the European transport sector as a basis for developing strategic options for transport-related research activities.

The project will highlight which future challenges and demand drivers can have a considerable impact on the global demand patterns in the passenger and the freight sector and how this might affect the competitiveness of related industries and service providers. In doing so, it aims at bridging the gap between the manifold studies on the future of the European transport system and its subsections on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the issue of competitiveness that needs to be supported by targeted research strategies.

This is broken down into 5 sub-objectives that are reflected in the work packages and the corresponding milestones.

First of all, the project needs to develop a better understanding of the present competitiveness of the European transport sector as well as an analytical framework which allows for an assessment of competitiveness in future worlds. This will be an important outcome in itself as well as a basis for the work carried out in the other Work packages.

Secondly, it will provide an assessment of external factors influencing future demand patterns in the transport sector and relate it to the concept of competitiveness.

Thirdly, it will assess the potential impacts of upcoming innovations and related constraints on the competitiveness of the EU transport sector.

Fourthly, scenario analyses will base the identification of plausible future challenges to the competitiveness of the EU transport sector

Finally, options for European research strategies related to the transport sector will be developed.